The Yakult Swallows hosted the Yokohama BayStars on October 4, 2007 at Jingu Kyujyo for the 21st matchup of the season between the two clubs. In the fifth inning, Yakult's outfielder Alex Ramirez (33) beat out an infield single to third off of Yokohama starter Mitsuhashi for his 200th hit of the season. That makes Ramirez the third player in NPB history to reach the 200 hit mark, following Ichiro (Orix - 1994) and team mate Aoki (Yakult - 2005). He is the first foreign player to reach this plateau, and moreover, the first right handed batter.

Ichiro Suzuki holds the top mark for most hits in a season with 210 in 130 games in 1994. Just two seasons ago (2005), team mate Norichika Aoki set the Central League record with 202 hits in 146 games. Ramirez has hit the 200 hit mark in game 139 this season, and the Swallows still have 5 games remaining on the schedule (144 games overall) for him to overturn the above two records.

Born in Venezuela, after a stint in the North American Major Leagues, Ramirez joined the Yakult Swallows in 2001. In 2003 he hit 40 home runs and drove in 124 runs for a double crown.

I'd like to add that the Swallows went on to win this game by a score of 3-1. The lone BayStar run came on Murata's 35th home run of the season, putting him in a 3-way tie for the home run title in the Central League with Tyrone Woods (Dragons) and Yoshinobu Takahashi (Giants).

The game was also Ken Suzuki's retirement game. During a short ceremony, his daughter came out on the field and presented him with a bouquet of flowers and a kiss on the cheek.

Hey, on the HR issue, that's looking good for Murata - Giants are done, Dragons have 2 more games, and the BayStars have 5, in theory. I'd bet that either Woods or Murata will at least overtake Yoshinobu.

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